Clock ticking on Gang of 6 talks

For the past few months, a bipartisan group of six senators has quietly tried to broker a grand bargain that would make a huge dent in the national debt and become a springboard for a once-in-a-generation deal on entitlements and spending.

But the so-called Gang of Six’s slow-moving negotiations may get overrun by classic Washington partisanship.

Story Continued Below

President Barack Obama is planning to give a national address Wednesday on entitlement reform — putting a partisan mark on a long-term spending vision. And the House by the end of this week will most likely vote purely along party lines on Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan’s audacious long-term budget plan.

So far, leaders of both parties don’t seem to be picking up the phone to ask the Gang of Six to rush their proposals to the Senate and House floors, leaving them in the back room to negotiate among themselves. The White House hasn’t been active in its outreach either, Senate sources said.

Leaders of the group acknowledge that time is running short, and they’re trying to figure out a way to set themselves apart from Ryan and Obama, taking a centrist path to deficit reduction — the only plan that’ll be able to achieve bipartisan support.

“A few weeks ago, they were the only ones talking about it, but they are still the only game in town,” said Jim Kessler, vice president for policy for the centrist Democratic group Third Way.

It’s possible that elements of the plan the six senators — Mark Warner (D-Va.), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) — draw up could end up in a bipartisan deal if Obama and House Republicans can reach one.

But that assumes House Republicans and the White House want to legislate rather than posture ahead of the 2012 election — and that assumes the Gang of Six can actually reach a deal.

The GOP is already criticizing Obama ahead of his Wednesday speech, and Democrats are relentlessly attacking Ryan’s fiscal 2012 budget, which promises to cut trillions in spending and to privatize Medicare for future beneficiaries.

And the Gang of Six doesn’t have a firm timeline for releasing its plan, potentially leaving it behind in a pivotal moment in the budget crisis.

Leaders of the group acknowledge the clock is ticking with the national debate having suddenly shifted to a more consequential fight over reforming entitlements, overhauling the tax code and making a long-term dent in discretionary spending.